Unlikely Slytherins
by nightheartbattles
Summary: Mil Fawcett, Galen Zabini, Bianca Abbott and Georgina Scott. 4 very different girls from 4 very different backgrounds. And on September 1st, 1980, they were all sorted into Slytherin. Follow the 4 first years throughout their first year at Hogwarts as they go through trials, tribulations, and problems from annoying older brothers.
1. Chapter 1

**Author's Note: This story was not written by me. It was written by my friend for her CAS (Creativity, Action, Service) project at school, and she does not have a fanfiction,net account so I kindly offered to post this for her. You're welcome Millie!**

**Chapter 1**

Mil Fawcett stared around the entrance hall in wonder. From what she could tell, it was exactly how her brothers had described it. Now to find someone she knew. She'd been lonely on the train, having been late to the station because of her stupid brother Henry, who's owl had got lose. Over the top of the mass of multicolored heads she could vaguely make out the dusky blonde hair of Galen, her friend from the many Pureblood Parties she'd attended in the past.

Georgina Scott stared around the entrance hall in wonder. This whole thing was overwhelming. Barely two months ago, she'd found out that she was a witch, like her older brother, Marshall - who was a wizard. Right shock it was too, hearing her brother talk about all the adventures he'd had at Hogwarts, yet she'd never shown any sign of having a magical ability. Just a lowly muggle like her parents - until two months ago. And now here she was in Hogwarts; Hogwarts, a school for witches and wizards like her. It was crazy. Standing in the middle of a gaggle of fellow eleven year olds, each of whom seemed to know each other, except Georgina. This was almost too much.

Bianca Abbott stared around the entrance hall. Sofia Solis, her old friend and neighbor, was at her side. The two had come on the train together.

"What house do you want to be in?" Sofia asked now.

"I don't know," Bianca replied. "My father was in Gryffindor, but we are nothing alike. Gryffindor would be pretty cool, though."

"Yeah. My whole family's been in Gryffindor, so I'll likely follow in their footsteps," Sofia said.

"Well, hopefully we'll be dorming together."

But all further conversation was halted by the arrival of a stern-faced woman into the room.

"First years," she announced, the authority of her voice immediately igniting silence around the room. "The Sorting ceremony is about to start. Follow me."

Bianca gulped as she and Sofia were swept forward amidst the nervous chatter of their fellow students.

Georgina, who was shepherded into the hall a few people behind the blonde bob that was Bianca, stared around the Great Hall, her mouth catching flies as she took in the floating candles. Four train-long tables were laid out in rows, filled with gaping students, their beady eyes focussing hungrily on the new first years. Georgina couldn't imagine anything more beautiful in her wildest dreams.

Her side throbbed as someone jolted against her.

"Look at that old thing," a voice in her ear whispered. "What is it?"

"What?" Georgina hissed back.

"There." The boy beside her pointed straight ahead, indicating a tatty old hat sitting on top of a rickety-looking stool.

"That's the Sorting Hat," Georgina explained. "My brother told me about it. It determines what house we are placed in."

The boy's eyes were blue saucers. "Cool! Oh, I'm Ethan, by the way. Ethan de Wills."

Georgina stuck out her hand, using the manners her parents had drilled into her. "Georgina Scott."

"Abbott, Bianca," the sharp voiced woman, who'd introduced herself to the new students earlier as Professor McGonagall called out.

Georgina watched as a small girl stepped forward to take her place in front of the long staff table at the head of the hall. Professor McGonagall placed the tatty wizard's hat on Bianca's head, where it slipped over her eyes.

'Please be Gryffindor' Bianca thought, clasping her sweaty hands together, 'please be Gryffindor'.

'Gryffindor, hey?' a foxy voice said in her ear. 'You're a brave one, you are. But I sense something else. No, you're not a Gryffindor, not quite. I think you'd do better in...'  
>"Slytherin!" The Sorting Hat shouted this last word, and the entire hall erupted with applause - the green emblazoned table to the left all giving the now blushing child a standing ovation as she joined their ranks.<p>

"Bagnold, Richard," was the next name to be called. The dark haired, rabbit faced boy was quickly appointed to the Ravenclaw house.

A few names down the list, "Fawcett, Mil," was called up. Mil jolted as her name was called.

"Good luck," her friend, Galen, whispered, giving the caramel haired girl a light shove towards the stage. Mil staggered forward to the stool, where Professor Mcgonagall placed the hat on her head. She saw nothing but black as the sorting hat obscured her vision.

'Another Fawcett,' the Sorting hat seemingly groaned in her head. 'I could chuck you in Ravenclaw to join your brothers... But there's something else in there. You're bright, yes, very much a good load of knowledge in that brain, but no. Not Ravenclaw. You're cunning, witty. I know. Let's put you in...'

"Slytherin!"

A string of collective gasps sounded from the Ravenclaw table, where Mil's eyes sought out her brothers' distinctive brown hairstyles in the centre. The sounds were quickly drowned by the applause from the Slytherins.

"Hi, I'm Bianca," the girl Mil had just sat down beside introduced herself.

"I'm Mil," Mil responded. "Are you a first year?"

Bianca stared at her, as if it were obvious. "Yeah. I can't wait for classes, you?"

Mil grinned. "Don't call me a nerd, but I've got brothers in Ravenclaw. They've tried to teach me a few useful spells, you know, being a pureblood and all, they can't really detect who did the magic, provided my parents are around."

"So did it work?" Bianca asked keenly.

"I think I managed to summon a fly," Mil replied with a smirk. "But maybe it just decided to fly in my direction at that certain point of time."

Bianca laughed, but then fell silent as Mcgonagall began the first of the S's with, "Scott, Georgina."

Georgina, quickly sorted Slytherin, bounced over to Mil and Bianca's table, and sat down opposite the two girls, beside a similar looking older boy, who made room with a wide smile.

"Congratulations, sis," Marshall said to her.

Georgina grinned. "Thanks, M."

On the other side of the table, Bianca's shoulders slumped, as her childhood friend, Sofia, got sorted into Gryffindor. The pair's eyes met for a moment. Bianca knew, deep in her heart, that their friendship would suffer for this. The trench-deep rivalry between the two houses was too great to build a sturdy bridge over.

Georgina's mouth dropped wide as, following the sorting, food appeared on the tables. Georgina struggled to take it all in - rice and salads and meats and pasta and extravagant foods she'd never seen in her life.

"What? You never seen this before?" a girl's voice beside her asked.

Georgina looked around to come face to face with a smiling girl with vaguely Irish features.

"No, but by the question, I assume you don't know what a TV is."

The girl scoffed. "A what? Muggle born, I guess."

Georgina's voice went defensive. "Maybe. Are you going to hurt me? I know, I know, Marshall's already told me, muggle borns aren't normally Slytherin."

The girl laughed easily. "Don't worry, I'm not like the rest of them. I think it's cool. Name's Galen, by the way, Galen Zabini."

"Georgina Scott."

Another girl leaned across the table. "I'm Mil," she said. "So, uh, what's it like, you know, living with muggles?"

Georgina struggled to think of an answer, but eventually settled with: "It's, uh, certainly different from magic life, not that I've experienced much with it, yet."

"I hear ya," a small girl with a bob cut sitting beside Mil agreed. "My mom's a muggle."

"You can eat, you know," Galen informed them in a thick voice. The girl was already stuffing her face with as much food as she possibly could.

Mil grinned, and speared a juicy looking piece of steak.

Georgina turned to her brother. "So, uh, anyone to watch out for - you know, who may not appreciate another muggleborn Slytherin sorta thing?"

Marshall pointed to a sharp faced girl with striking, platinum blonde hair sitting at the far end of the table. "Atia Malfoy. Seventh year. Female Slytherin prefect. You don't want to cross her. She's had it out for me since first year. Thank Merlin old Sluggy liked me."

"Slughorn?" Galen asked. "Yeah, he's cool. Pity he's retired though. Left at the end of last year. He's a family friend."

"That's the new head of house," Marshall informed them, pointing towards a greasy haired, hook nosed man at the staff table. "Professor Snape. I already met him at the prefect's meeting on the train. I expect you'll meet him officially tomorrow."

"Hopefully he's as good as Slughorn," Galen remarked.

Georgina stabbed an interesting sausage from the platter. Grinning, she held it up to her brother.

"Hey look, doesn't this look like a lightsaber?" she joked.

Marshall's face brightened. "Hey, yeah! It does," he chuckled. "Wasn't that last Star Wars movie amazing?"

"Absolutely. But Han Solo is the real hero," Georgina said.

The two promptly engaged in sibling banter, from what the onlookers could tell, over two people with incredibly strange names.

"No, no, no," Marshall argued. "Luke Skywalker is the best, and everybody knows it."

"Luke?" Georgina echoed. "He's a pussy. He just does what Obi and Yoda tell him to."

"And Han's running from Jabba!" Marshall snapped. "How is that brave?"

"Okay, wait a second," Mil interrupted them. "What or who is Lightsaver, and what were the Star Wars? And who are Luke Skywalker and Han Solo, your friends?"

The siblings looked at each other, and laughed. "It's muggle stuff," Georgina said eventually. Don't worry about it."

After the feast, Marshall and Atia Malfoy led the new Slytherins down to their common room and dormitories - which Bianca was horrified to find were in the dungeons.

"I think I'm having second thoughts about this whole Slytherin thing," she muttered to her new friends, her voice barely more than a squeak.  
>"Do you not like being underground?" Galen asked gently, putting a hand on the small girl's shoulder.<p>

"We'll sort something out," Mil promised. "But for now, lay low until we get to our dorm. Can't risk Atia finding out - she'll skin you."

"Okay."

Marshall ushered them into their new common room. The quartet stared around. The room was rather beautiful, bathed in a dim golden light, like a cave tunnel just before you come out into the light. It was cozy, and the girls - bar Bianca - felt immediately at home.

"Your trunks are already in your dormitory, which is located down the stairs, and last door on the left," Marshall informed them, pointing out an ominous black door, emblazoned with a silver serpent. "Oh, by the way, it may help to tickle old Monty Python under the chin."

Georgina giggled at the reference, and put her head in her hand. Everyone else looked confused.

"Shall we go check out our dorm?" Mil suggested.

Galen clapped her hands cheerfully, "We're the only first year girls!" she crowed. "We'll get a dorm to ourselves!"

Georgina reached out a hand, and gave the metal snake a scratch under the chin. "Hiya Monty," she crooned, as if it were a loved pet.

The silver snake's tail protruded from the door, morphing into a shiny handle. Georgina turned it, and the door swung open, revealing yet another flight of stairs down into a gloomily lit dungeon.  
>"More stairs," Bianca groaned.<p>

The four trooped down the staircase where they arrived in a passage with fourteen doors leading off it - seven on the left, seven on the right.

"Seventh on the left," Galen muttered, striding forward. She lead the way down to the far end of the corridor.

"We must be under the lake!" Mil exclaimed.

Bianca shuddered. "I hope not."

"Hey, is it true that there's a squid in the lake?" Georgina wanted to know. "Marshall keeps going on about having conversations with it, but I bet he's exaggerating."

"He's not," Mil corrected. "My brothers chat to the squid all the time. Apparently he likes his tentacles being tickled. I'll take you guys down sometime ... when do classes start?"

"I think we've got tomorrow to get our bearings together, then classes on Monday," Galen replied. "I guess we'll get our timetables tomorrow."

"And we should start finding our classrooms so we don't get in trouble on the first day," Bianca suggested.

"Good idea," Georgina agreed. "My brother can help."

"As can mine," Mil agreed. She pushed open the door to their dorm, to find four beds with the black trunks tucked away neatly at the foot. "This is cosy."

"Uh, guys ... what's that on that bed?" Galen stammered, pointing to a blue and green rainbow swirl protruding from the bed closest to the window. A head popped up, and a forked tongue flicked out. It was a snake.

Whilst the others panicked, Georgina stepped forward, and fixed the thing in a glare.

"Mercury, what have I told you about being on my bed?"

The snake seemed to cower, and slithered off under the bed. Another long thing slithered out from under the bed, this one was a dark blacky-green colour, with beady amber eyes that stared, unblinking at the young girls.

"Dom," Georgina said sternly. "I think you've gone to the wrong dorm."

"Hey guys, do we have a ghost?" Bianca asked, her voice shaky.

They were suddenly aware of a horribly out of tune male singer.

"And she's climbing a stairway to heave-e-en!"

Georgina heaved a sigh. "No, it's just Marshall." She shoved her way into the bathroom, and shortly after, the girls could hear shrieks, and protests, and the clattering of glass - and then Georgina reappeared, dragging her older brother, who wore nothing but a towel around his waist - out by the ear.

Galen, and the rest of the room's occupants, eyed up the older boy's dripping abs, literally salivating over his attractive half-naked body.  
>"Hey, quit looking at my brother like that," Georgina snapped. "And, for your information, he's gay."<p>

Galen's hopes sank.

"Now, take your snake, and get out of here," Georgina now snapped at her brother, shoving the hissing Dom into Marshall's hands. Marshall glared at his sister, before trooping out, head down.


	2. Chapter 2

**CHAPTER 2**

Bright and early the next morning, Mil awoke in her emerald curtained fourposter, to the insistent mewling of Bianca's tortoiseshell - Iris.

"Bianca," Mil groaned, her voice bleary with sleep. "Can't you get your cat to shut up."

"She's my personal alarm clock," Bianca, evidently already awake, explained. "I guess it's seven, then. You might want to get used to it."

"Shall we wake them up?" Mil asked, nodding to Georgina and Galen, still deep in slumber in their beds on the other side of the room.

Bianca shrugged. "Give them half an hour, let's use the bathroom before they get up and steal it."

Mil giggled. "I don't think I'll ever get used to sharing a bathroom."

"I've got a younger sister that I share with," Bianca said. "That's when Iris comes in handy."

Mil snickered.

"So, uh, what are we going to do today?" Bianca wanted to know. "Classes don't start till tomorrow, and I heard one of the second years saying we don't get our timetables until tomorrow."

"We should go down to breakfast early," Mil decided. "And I want to see my brothers - and send an owl to my parents. Other than that, we can do what we like - though I bet we'll all agree that finding some classrooms would be a good idea. And Georgina was keen to meet the giant squid."

Bianca nodded in agreement. "Okay, well, do you want the bathroom first? Or can I go? Then we can wake up the others and head down... up... to breakfast."

"You can," Mil offered. "I want to find my clothes - I swear mom made me pack all uniform, and no casual clothes."

Bianca laughed.

"Food!" Galen exclaimed, practically bounding the last few steps down to the Slytherin table as the four entered the nearly deserted Great Hall.

"Slow down!" Mil laughed. "It's not like there's not gonna be nothing left."

"I'm hungry," Galen explained, shoulders slumping as Mil dragged her friend backwards.

"How can you be hungry?" Georgina questioned. "You ate twice as much as any of us last night."

"Her stomach is a bottomless pit," Mil told her. "I've been to enough parties with her to know that."

"Well, she's going to be a joy to live with," Bianca commented, her voice dripping with sarcasm. "Always got to be first to the dining hall."

Galen looked mock indignant. "Hey!"

Mil turned away from the banter, and looked across at the blue bannered Ravenclaw table at the far end of the hall, hoping to spot her brothers. Neither Henry nor Sam had arrived yet.

The girls took their seats at the empty Slytherin table, and grabbed the first helpings of the various assortment of breakfast food.

Georgina plucked a warm slice of toast from the rack, and spread it with the most familiar looking spread she could find - marmalade, or at least, that's what it looked like.

"So, how'd we sleep?" she enquired politely.

"It's gonna take a while to get used to rooming with others, that's for certain," Mil commented, helping herself to a pancake, and making it swim in maple syrup.

"Agreed," Georgina said.

Bianca nodded in assent, and Galen remained silent as her face was puckered like a chipmunk from a huge mouthful of cereal.

Georgina took a bite of the refreshingly muggle breakfast, and immediately gagged. "Pumpkin!" she spluttered.

"Should have warned you," the laughing voice of Marshall appeared. Georgina's older brother stood between his sister and a dark-haired forth year boy. "Move," Marshall snapped to the younger boy. "Come on. I'm a prefect, and I want to sit here. Move or I'll instill the curse of the bogeys on you."

The boy's eyes grew wide as he was struck by terror, despite the fact that the older boy didn't even have his wand drawn. Marshall slid into the vacated space.

Georgina glared sternly at her brother. "M, you can't go around threatening people like that," she rebuked him.

Marshall stuck his nose in the air with an impish expression. "I'm a prefect," he said stubbornly. "I can do what I like."

Georgina groaned loudly.

Marshall helped himself to not one, but two pancakes.

"What are you doing here, anyway?" Georgina wanted to know.

Marshall looked hurt. "What, am I not allowed to spend some quality time with my favourite sister?" He raised a hand, as if to ruffle Georgina's hair, but his younger sister slapped him away, wearing a stern look that Bianca thought could have rivaled the teacher in the entrance hall yesterday.

"I'm your _only_ sister," Georgina retorted.

Marshall sighed, easily caving under Georgina's glare. "My roommates are being annoying," he said. "I don't think I could stand one more moment hearing about the 'Death Eaters' legacy' and 'the Dark Lord'." He virtually spat the terms.

Muggleborn Georgina looked confused for a moment, staring at her friend's somber expressions. "Uh, sorry but, um, what are Death Eaters? And who's the Dark Lord?"

Marshall clapped a hand to his sister's shoulder. "Ah, sis, there's a lot you have to learn yet about our world."

Galen gave a more specific answer, face grave. "We're in the middle of a war. Huge scale. I don't know if muggles have heard. But this guy - V- sorry, the Dark Lord, is behind it all. He's got this group of followers called Death Eaters. It's been going on since 1970, but we're at the height of it now. I don't know how long it'll last."

"So, it's a Slytherin thing?" Georgina assumed.

Galen made a face. "A lot of Slytherins are purebloods, sorry, from very influential families. And they say the Dark Lord was a Slytherin himself, and built up a following in school. So yes, the majority of the Death Eaters are Slytherins. But I've heard a rumor that there's a Gryffindor Death Eater out there - don't know if it's true though, seem's very unlikely."

Bianca and Mil had turned pale.

"I wish it would be over soon," Bianca said, voice quavering. "My father has something to do with the war, but he doesn't say much."

Mil nodded. "My parents almost didn't let me come here," she told the group.

Bianca stared at her. "But - but you're a pureblood, and a Slytherin at that. You'd be fine."

"I come from a Ravenclaw family," Mil corrected. "We're as much at risk as the rest." She went silent for a moment, and when she spoke again, her voice sounded choked, as if she were fighting tears. "My father is an auror. He's working against You-Know-Who. He's away all the time and I'm afraid that..."

Georgina touched her friend's shoulder. "He'll be fine, don't worry."

Footsteps came from behind them, and a narrow faced man with greasy hair came up at their side.

"Hi Professor Snape," Marshall said exuberantly.

The man (who must be the new Head of House, Mil supposed) sneered at the boy sitting in front of him, apparently not liking the effort to be kind.

"Your timetable," he snapped, dropping a sheet of paper in front of Marshall as if it had stung him. Snape then turned and took a long look at Georgina's face. "Ah. Another one." he sounded bored and horrified. He slapped Georgina's timetable in front of her, then turned to Mil. His voice grew ever so slightly warmer. "Here's your timetable. See you in class."

Snape proceeded to hand out timetables, including Galen's and Bianca's. They noted that Snape's voice was almost friendly when he addressed Galen - probably because she was from a Slytherin family.

"Where to?" Bianca asked, standing up from the table after the four had finished eating.

Mil shrugged. "I want to owl my parents."

"I want to meet the Giant Squid," Georgina suggested.

"We should find our classes," Galen added.

"And I really don't mind where we go," Bianca piped up. "Provided you don't throw anyone off the tallest tower."

Galen cocked her head. "What?"

Bianca raised her shoulders, then dropped them down. "Dad said that's what Slytherins do for fun."

"He's Gryffindor, right?" Galen asked.

Bianca nodded in assent.

Galen nodded understandingly. "He would think that, then. Don't worry mate, we're not like that."

Bianca laughed.

"So, to the owlery," Mil declared.

As they set off, Georgina made everyone link arms, and pulled them along from the middle, skipping as she sang "We're off to see the wizard!"

"Uh... what are you doing?" Galen asked, speaking as if you would to someone who was mentally disturbed.

Georgina's mouth snapped shut. "It's a muggle thing," she explained. "We're off to see the wizard, the wonderful wizard of Oz!"

"Where are we?" Bianca asked, after they'd climbed numerous staircases - to the point at least half were out of breath.

"I have no idea," Mil said slowly, staring around the hallway.

"We're in a tower," Galen informed the girls - she'd moved to the window and was staring out it. "We are most certainly above the ground."

"Hogwarts has twenty four towers," Bianca declared. "We could be anywhere."

"Maybe we can find someone to help us out," Mil suggested. "Gee, thanks for getting us lost Georgina."

Georgina looked indignant. "Hey! It's not my fault. You could have told me I was going the wrong way."

Galen scoffed.

"We need a map," Bianca declared.

"How on earth do you make a map of Hogwarts?" Mil asked. "Henry's been trying for years - but his parchment keeps wiping blank."

"It's possible," Bianca declared. "My dad heard that some Gryffindors a few years back who succeeded in making a map."

"Wonder where it got to," Galen mused.

"Well, a lost map is not going to help us now!" Mil snapped. "Let's just turn around, and try get out of here."

They did. The quartet trooped down the hallway, and back down a staircase. A girl wearing the blue and bronze tie of a Ravenclaw was conveniently walking up the same staircase.

"Hey," Bianca said.

"Hey," the girl replied. "Artemis Scamander. Fifth year."

"Oh, thank god," Georgina breathed. "Can you help us, please? We're lost."

The older girl smiled, not unkindly, "Firsties ae?" The Slytherins nodded. "Well, you're on the staircase to the Ravenclaw tower, at the moment. Where are you trying to get to?"

Merlin, Mil thought. We could have found my brothers and they would have helped us.

"The owlery," Galen said.

"Easy," Artemis exclaimed. She pointed at a staircase leading off to the left not too far away. "Keep going down here, and then head up that staircase just there. But hurry, because it will move soon, and then you'll be in all sorts of trouble."

"The staircases move?" Bianca squeaked. "My dad didn't tell me that."

"He probably wanted to tease you," Mil said. "Thanks," she added to Artemis, as the Ravenclaw continued up the staircase.

They found the owlery without any more mishaps. Mil pushed open the great door, and they were immediately greeted by the hooting and squawking of many owls.

One shrill screech in particular made Mil's face light up.

A cream and white feathered barn owl soared from her perch high on the rafters, and settled down on Mil's shoulder.

Georgina whistled under her breath. "I've never seen so many owls," she breathed.

Mil smiled, which quickly turned into a grimace as her owl pecked her ear.

"Ow. Athena!"

"What's her name?" Bianca wanted to know

"Athena," Mil repeated fondly. "Like the greek goddess." Another owl hooted, and soared down to land on Mil's other shoulder. "And this is Boris. How could I forget about him."

"You have two owls?" Bianca asking in disbelief.

"No, no," Mil responded quickly. She let out a short laugh as Athena flapped down from her shoulder to perch on her arm, talons gripping the bare skin. "Boris is Henry's owl. I don't know why he likes me so much."

"What sort of owl is he?" Galen queried. "I swear I've never seen one quite like him."

"Henry said he was a spectacled owl. Trust him to get the rarest type of owl I've ever seen. Hey - where's Tiny?"

"Uh..." Galen looked around the room. Tiny, the massive eagle owl, was nowhere in sight. "He's probably out hunting."

Meanwhile, Georgina was staring around the room in shock. The owlery was full of owls - from Eagle owls to Snowy owls, Pygmy to Great Grey. One owl, a red tag on it's leg identifying it as a school owl, swooped low over Georgina's head.

She yelped and ducked.

"Sorry," Mil said. "We can get out of here if you like. Boris, get off," she added, giving a stern glare to the back and white owl. She pulled a bit of parchment and a line of string from her pocket. She'd composed the letter last night, before going to bed.  
>"Here, Athena, sit still," Mil commanded, as she tied the letter to her small barn owl's leg. "This is for my parents. And make sure you come back - I'm here for the year, so it's no use if you're sitting at home."<p>

Athena hooted rather indignantly.

"All right, fine," Mil sighed. "Off you go." She released the owl out the window. Athena flew a few loop-the-loops before soaring into the distance.

"Show off," Galen muttered.

"Let's get out of here," Georgina declared.

The girls stopped briefly back to their dormitory, before heading out into the grounds. Georgina now had Mercury wrapped around her neck.

"Hey, kid," a voice called as they left the courtyard. "Why do you have a snake wrapped around your neck? You realize it could strangle you, right?"

"Mercury wouldn't harm me," Georgina corrected indignantly, as she turned around to face the boy who'd spoken. "He's my pet."

The boy shuddered. "I wouldn't have a pet snake even if it chose me."

Mil spun around at that moment, suddenly recognizing the voice. "Sam!" she exclaimed, recognizing the chin length mop of hair that was her older brother.

Sam's face lit up. "Hey kid. How was the first night?"

"It was great!" Mil crowed. "I've made friends already. This is Georgina, Bianca, and you remember Galen from parties?"

Sam nodded. "Hey Galen."

"Sam." It was Henry, the oldest Fawcett sibling. "Oh, look who the kneazle dragged in." But his voice was fond.

Mil grinned. "Nice to see you too, Henry. Your owl wants some company."

"You sent a letter to mom?" Sam assumed.

"Just did," Mil affirmed.

Henry's face lit up in a teasing smirk. "Wonder how the folks will react to our little sis being made a Slytherin. What's it like in the dungeons, anyway? Cold?"

"Shut up," Mil snapped fondly. "It's actually not bad. Heating charm probably."

Henry wrinkled his nose. "Not my cup of tea. Anyhow, see you around, sis. I said I'd go meet Artemis."

"Girlfriend?" Mil asked, as soon as Henry was out of earshot.

Sam shrugged. "He's adamant she's just a study partner. But I'm suspicious."

Mil giggled. "I'll look into it for you. After all, I am cunning."

It was Sam's turn to laugh. "Come on, I'll show you guys around. You'd better find your classrooms before classes start tomorrow."

He strode ahead, the fourth years long strides covering more ground than the quartet of first years'.

"Your brothers are um..." Bianca hissed in Mil's ear as they walked.

"Interesting?" Mil finished, equally quietly. "Henry can take a lot of getting used to. But Sam's pretty cool."

"Tell me about it," Georgina sighed, thinking of her own older brother - Marshall the dick.


	3. Chapter 3

**CHAPTER 3**

Bright and early the next morning, the girls were woken yet again by Iris, Bianca's cat -whom Galen was convinced was really a kneazle. This morning, the girls awoke to find clothes sitting, neatly folded, at the feet of their four-posters. Mil suspected the house-elves who worked in the castle had put them there. Mil's brother, Henry, was a regular visitor of the house elves, and it was him who had told her of the creatures that worked in the castle. Bianca, who was the first to rise, was the first to reach the clothes that was their new uniform. The night black robes now had the emerald and silver emblem stitched onto the right breast, and the whole robe was trimmed by a strip of dark green. Sitting atop the robes was a green and silver striped tie and scarf, along with a plain grey sweater. This would be their uniform for the next seven years.

The four girls took it in turns to use the bathroom and dress; then, once everyone was ready, they headed down as a throng to the Great Hall.

This morning, when Mil, Bianca, Galen and Georgina entered the Great Hall for breakfast, it was packed. What looked like the entire school was there, all dressed in their black robes.

One of the first year Slytherin boys - whose name they didn't yet know - scooted over to make room as the quartet sat down along one side of their table.

"Hey, where's Marshall?" Georgina asked, scanning up and down the long table for any sign of her brother.

"Must still be asleep," Mil noted.

They didn't see hide nor hair of Marshall until they left the Great Hall after they'd eaten.  
>Marshall was battling past the throng of students, looking flustered.<br>"Where have you been?" Georgina demanded as she passed her brother.  
>"I slept in," Marshall responded sheepishly.<p>

Georgina's expression was stern and motherly. "Well, hurry up. You've got fifteen minutes until class."

"Which reminds me," Bianca added. "We'd better go, else we'll be late."

As it turned out, the quartet were first to Transfiguration, which was the first class for the Slytherin and Gryffindor first years.

Bianca's eyes were fixed on the doorway as the Gryffindors entered as a group. The Gryffindors gave the Slytherin side of the classroom a shifty look, before sitting down as far as possible from the green house students. Bianca exchanged a smile with a brown haired girl in Gryffindor robes. She watched, heart in her stomach as the girl returned the gesture briefly, yet went to sit next to a black haired Gryffindor girl.

"Who's that?" Mil, who was sitting next to Bianca, hissed.  
>"My friend from home," Bianca replied. "Sofia."<p>

"Oh," Mil said softly. "That must suck. I mean, being in different houses."  
>All further conversation was halted by the appearance of Professor McGonagall, the stern faced woman from the sorting ceremony.<p>

"Welcome to Transfiguration," she announced, awarding her class with a glare. "Shut up and pay attention. Transfiguration is some of the most complicated and dangerous magic you will learn at Hogwarts. Anyone messing around in my class will leave and not come back. You have been warned."

Georgina was leaning back in her chair, looking scared. "I hope all our teachers aren't like that," she hissed to her neighbor, Galen.

Galen laughed softly. "Let's hope."  
>McGonagall next demonstrated by transforming her desk into a squeaking pig and back with a flourish of her wand.<p>

"Wow!" Bianca hissed.

The class were issued each a match, under instructions to transfigure it into a needle.

This task proved more and more difficult. Georgina, in the far corner, couldn't get her match to even go a lighter shade of brown. Beside her, Galen was going little better, managing to maybe narrow her match, but making little progress aside from that. Mil was probably the star of their group. She'd managed to turn her match vaguely silver. She was bettered, by a Gryffindor, however. Sofia's black haired companion had succeeded in turning her match into a vague needle.

Professor McGonagall was eager to show the girl's, someone Bell, match to the class, proclaiming how silver and pointy it was. She gave Bell a rare smile.

"I don't believe it," Mil grumbled. "I was bettered by a Gryffindor."

"Do you have any idea how Slytherin you sound right now?" Bianca commented.

Mil blushed crimson. "Sorry. But..."

"At least you managed," Georgina snapped. "I couldn't get my match to do anything at all. What if I'm not a witch? What if they kick me out?"

"They wouldn't kick you out," Galen soothed her. "You deserve to go here."  
>"Hey," Bianca said, chipper. "We've got Herbology next. Hey, Georgina, maybe you'll be better at that."<p>

"I wouldn't count on it," Georgina grumbled.

Herbology, with the Ravenclaws, was taught by a rather eccentric, squat man by the name of Professor Beery. He ushered them into the greenhouse with a flourish.

This professor, though more relaxed than Professor McGonagall was, also drilled into the first years' heads that Herbology, like Transfiguration and probably a lot of subjects here, was a dangerous subject and should be treated with utmost care.  
>"Although as first years," Professor Beery went on. "You will not encounter many dangerous plants. It is good practice to be careful, just in case. Oi." He added to a plant with long tendrils, which was proceeding to wrap a vine around his arm.<p>

After his speech, Professor Beery set the class into pairs to water trays of Glittering Geraniums. This proved more difficult than anticipated, as Galen quickly discovered. She and Mil got sprayed with copious amounts of glitter when they didn't give the plant the water in precisely the right place. By the time the lesson was up, half an hour later, glitter clad Mil and Galen trooped out of the greenhouse. Georgina and Bianca followed them, laughing gleefully at their friends' now speckled robes.

"Shut up," Galen muttered, frantically trying to brush off some of the glitter with little effect.

"You know we've got lunch now," Georgina told the sparkling pair. "You're gonna have to walk into the Great Hall like that."

"Oh go away," Mil grumbled. "I need to go find my brothers. Galen, coming?"

Thankfully, they managed to catch up with Henry Fawcett, who took a great deal of amusement from the sight of the two girls in their green and black robes covered in glitter.  
>"Come on," Mil snapped at her laughing brother. "I'm starved."<p>

"You should see yourself..." Henry chuckled. "It's just..."

"Do it," Mil growled, wearing a glare.

Henry sighed. Stifling his humor, he pulled out his wand and quickly siphoned the glitter off first Galen, then Mil.

"Thanks," Galen said.

Mil grunted.

The quartet and Henry set off to the Great Hall, where they found the four long tables laden with food.

"I'll catch up with you guys in the weekend," Mil promised her brother as the Slytherins and the Ravenclaw went their separate ways to their tables.

"Good," Henry declared as he departed.

"Who's hungry?" Galen asked, plonking herself down at the almost empty Slytherin table.

"You and your stomach," Bianca muttered, rolling her eyes. "Hey, what do we have next, anyway?"

"I heard a rumor we've got our first flying lessons," Mil answered, sounding keen.

Wide eyed Georgina gulped. "Wait, wait, wait," she stammered. "Nobody said anything about flying."

"Oh, yeah," Galen agreed. "Flying's a huge part of it."

"Like... on broomsticks?" Georgina wanted to know. The other three nodded. "so it is like the stories!"

"What stories?" the two purebloods questioned.

"Come one. Bad Jelly the Witch, the Wizard of Oz..." she broke off seeing Mil and Galen's puzzled expressions. "Oh, come on!"

Mil shrugged and muttered something that sounded like, "Muggles." before she and Galen quickly engaged themselves in conversation.  
>"Have you flown before?" Mil asked.<p>

Galen nodded keenly. "I've got my own broom. A Nimbus 500. Latest model. But I had to leave it at home, coz first years aren't allowed brooms."

"Lucky!" Mil exclaimed. "Henry's on the Ravenclaw quidditch team. I've never flown before, though, because mom and dad always say that it's too dangerous, and I'm too young. Just because dad fell off a broom at some stage. I can't wait to learn, though. I want to learn lots of tricks and then I can show off to Henry and Sam."

Galen sighed slightly wistfully. "I wish I had brothers or sisters."

Mil laughed. "I'll swap any day."

"Guys," Bianca spoke up. "We've got to be down at the quidditch pitch at 2. It's 1. If you want to eat before then, I suggest you eat soon."

"Or we'll throw up on our brooms and it will land on someone's head," Mil added, snickering.

Georgina wasted no time in loading her plate with noodles and sausage, and stuffing her face in the politest possible manner.

"Seriously," Georgina whined, as the Slytherin first years trooped down to the pitch from the Great Hall after lunch. "I don't see why learning to fly is compulsory."

Bianca shrugged. "Tradition, I guess. My dad said he never had much of a knack for it. But apparently we just have to learn the basics and then leave it."

"Still," Georgina muttered. "I really don't want to have to do this."

Mil looked at her sideways. "You're afraid of heights, aren't you?"

Georgina stared straight ahead, a ruby blush began to shroud her cheeks. "Maybe."

Mil clapped a hand to Georgina's shoulder. "Don't worry. You'll do fine."

"Just don't let anyone else hear that," Galen added. "You don't want to give some people another reason to scorn you." With those words, she nodded at the only two Slytherin first year boys: Orion Greengrass and Thorfinn Rowle.

The Slytherins were first onto the Quidditch pitch. Waiting for them was a wiry man dressed in Quidditch robes, and just over a dozen brooms, spread out in a neat line.

"Welcome Slytherin," the man said. "My name is Professor Zamora. I oversee the Quidditch and flying here at Hogwarts. I will be teaching you all how to fly, which will take place in lessons every second afternoon for the first few weeks. Please note that first years are not allowed on your house Quidditch team, nor are you allowed to bring your own broom in your first year. Questions? We will wait for the Ravenclaws to arrive before we begin."

The blue and black clad Ravenclaw first years arrived shortly afterwards. Professor Zamora repeated his speech to the students, then issued them each a broom. 14 school brooms were lined up in two equal rows facing each other.

"Pick a broom," Mr Zamora ordered. The students shuffled to a broom, Mil, Galen and Bianca chose brooms at the end of one line, Georgina followed them, head down.

"Don't be so scared," Mil hissed to her. "I don't think we're actually flying today."

"I hope not," Georgina hissed back.

Once everyone had taken up positions next to a broom - the six Slytherins on one side, facing the seven Ravenclaws. Professor Zamora selected the remaining broom on the Slytherin side, and strolled military style down the line as he barked out the next instructions in his deep voice.

"Put your wand arm out to the side," Professor Zamora told them. "And say, 'up'." As he spoke the word, his broom leapt into his outstretched hand without hesitation. "Like so."

The students chorused the word, but were dismayed to find it didn't quite have the same effect as Professor Zamora's did. Galen's broom leapt up immediately, spiny tail feathers managing to catch the stocky Orion Greengrass in the chin. The boy glared at Galen, losing concentration and his broom, which had been halfway up, dropped back down immediately. On Galen's other side, Mil's broom came up very shakily, but still went into her hand. Bianca's broom remained stubbornly on the ground, not even moving a twitch. Georgina, who's 'up' was very shaky and hesitant, managed to get her broom to writhe on the ground like it was under the cruciatus curse, but didn't leave the ground. On the other side, the Ravenclaws were faring similarly, with one girl's broom leaping up easily, and a boy managing to hit himself in the face with his broom that came up too quickly.

"Good, Zabini," Professor Zamora praised Galen. "Greengrass - give it another go."

Half an hour later, the rest of the class, bar Georgina, had succeeded in getting their broom to jump into their hand.

Professor Zamora by now had began focusing just on Georgina.  
>"Repeat after me," he was saying. "Up."<p>

"Up," Georgina echoed. The broom wiggled, rising a few centimeters, then fell.

"Better," Professor Zamora praised. "But you've got to mean it."

"Up," Georgina repeated more firmly.

Five minutes later, broom in hand, Georgina was smiling.

Professor Zamora returned to focus on the rest of the class.

"Now, swing your leg over the broom," Professor Zamora instructed them. White faced Georgina obeyed, her knuckles paling as she gripped the broomstick. The rest of the class did the same. Mil hadn't yet been able to wipe the grin off her face. Once the class was mounted on their brooms, the Professor issued them with another task. "Now, I want you to push off gently from the ground, hover for a few seconds, then touch back down again. Okay?" Galen and Mil were the first to get their brooms off the ground. They remained hovering side by side, Galen motionless, Mil's broom requiring a little more effort to remain in the air. Beside them, Bianca took a bit longer to come up, and once in the air, remained wobbling side by side. Georgina, preferring for her feet to stay planted firmly on the ground, merely jumped up and down a few times, ignoring the sniggers Orion and Thorfinn were giving her, though they themselves were barely enough in the air for their feet to leave the ground.

The entertainment, however, came from the Ravenclaw side. The attention was quickly drawn from Georgina onto one of the boys, who shoved off too hard, and found himself shooting off into the air.  
>"Gently!" Professor Zamora cried after the boy. "Now, tilt its nose downward and..." Unfortunately, the professor was cut off as he received a mouthful of broom, and got knocked onto the ground by the Ravenclaw on his runaway broom. Thankfully for the Ravenclaw, the friction between the broom and Professor Zamora was enough to give him a moment to control his broom and land, white faced and shaking, albeit in one piece.<p>

"That's why I don't fly," Georgina muttered. "I'm glad it wasn't me."

Orion and Thorfinn were snickering. "Keep to the library, scum."

The Ravenclaws glared, sticking up for their house mate.

"They are horrible," Bianca hissed.

"That's Slytherins for you," Mil muttered. She was glaring at the two boys, prodded on by her Ravenclaw roots.

"We are Slytherin," Galen pointed out.

Mil shrugged. "You know what I mean."

Professor Zamora had by now picked himself off the ground. He shook dirt off his robes, and turned to face the class, one hand clamped to his nose, which was spewing blood.

"Class dismissed," he announced thickly. "If you'll excuse me, I have to deal with something."


	4. Chapter 4

**CHAPTER 4**

The rest of the afternoon passed quickly, and soon enough, the four girls found themselves waking up in the dormitory under the lake for the start of their second day of classes.

"What do we have first?" Bianca wanted to know, as they headed up the staircase for the long walk from the dungeons to the Great Hall for breakfast.

"Potions," Galen answered, checking her timetable. "Then History of Magic."

Mil groaned. "History of Magic. Urgh. Sam says it's the most boring subject in the history of wizard-kind."

Georgina laughed. "What's so bad about history? It was my favourite subject at my muggle school."

"Well, you can take notes for us, then," Mil declared. "Just don't blame me if you get bored. The class is taught by a ghost, apparently."

"A ghost?!" Georgina exclaimed. She was yet to encounter any of the ghosts Marshall had told her about, but it sounded as if she might meet her first.  
>"He's not really as exciting as he sounds," Mil corrected.<p>

"Whatever," Georgina muttered.  
>"Come on," Galen urged. "I'm hungry and I want food before we have to go to class."<p>

Mil rolled her eyes, but nevertheless allowed Galen to lead the way up to the Great Hall.

Moments after taking seats, the air was filled with the sound of flapping wings. Georgina jumped, and stared around to see birds flocking in through a gap in the roof.

"What's that?" she squeaked to her neighbor, Bianca.

"Post," Bianca replied gleefully.

The first owl to reach their table was none other than the creamy feathered Athena, who landed neatly in front of Mil, narrowly missing her bowl of cereal.

"Sit still," Mil snapped at her dancing owl. "Come here so I can get that letter off you." She reached forward to stroke her owl's tawny head, but Athena clacked her beak, making Mil draw back. "You're always grumpy after a flight," she grumbled. "Watch it," she added to Bianca, whose hand was itching to stroke Athena's sleek feathers. Bianca leaned back hastily.

Mil untied her letter from the owl's leg, thanked the bird, then shooed her back off to the owlery with the other owls.  
>One of the last owls to reach the table was a tired looking screech, who landed in front of Bianca.<br>"It's my dad's owl," she explained, as she retrieved her mail from the bird's leg, then let it help itself to a sausage from her plate. "He's a bit naughty, and greedy, so you've got to let him have something or he'll eat you."

"Good advice," Mil replied. On Bianca's other side, Georgina, her eyes as wide as the screech's, shied away. Galen, sitting beside Mil, looked across, a noodle of spaghetti escaping her mouth.

All to soon for the girls, who were now in conversation about owls and pets in general, it was time to get to class.

"I don't see," Galen puffed, as the headed down yet another flight of stairs to get to potions class. "Why we can't have breakfast a little closer to the dungeons. Come from there, go all the way up, then come all the way back down."

"And you're the one who would stop for a snack if you were being chased by a werewolf," Mil commented. "But I agree. Next time we'll send one person up to get breakfast for all of us."

"I don't see," Bianca, who was getting more and more pale every staircase lower they got, began. "Why we can't have potions a little closer to the Great Hall. Like the rest of our classes."

"Not to mention we have to go all the way up to one of the towers after this," Georgina added. "I hate this."

By now they'd reached the darkest dungeon of them all, where Professor Snape's office was located, and the potions lab. And standing right in front of her, robes billowing like a curtain in a storm, was Professor Snape himself, and he was glaring at Georgina down that long hooked nose, in a way that if looks could kill, she was a pile of ash.

Georgina gulped.

"Come in," Professor Snape drawled. "Take your seats." As in all the classes so far, there was a distinct line between the Gryffindors and the Slytherins, who took seats at either side of the room. It was cold in here. Much chillier than even their common room, which was probably magically heated. Georgina wrapped her cloak around herself tighter, and sat as far on the edge of her seat as she could to get away from those animals in jars on the wall, whom she could swear were all staring her down.

Professor Snape started the lesson by taking the roll. Georgina was pretty certain she detected a slight sneer as he spoke her name. The professor's cold, black eyes drilled into her own.

Professor Snape spoke barely in a whisper, yet somehow the class could hear every word. No one dared speak in his presence.  
>"You are here to learn the subtle science and exact art of potion making," he began. "As there is little foolish wand-waving here, many of you will hardly believe this is magic. I don't expect you will really understand the beauty of the softly simmering cauldron with its shimmering fumes, the delicate power of liquids that creep through human veins, bewitching the mind, ensnaring the senses... I can teach you how to bottle fame, brew glory, even stopper death - if you aren't as big a bunch of dunderheads as I usually have to teach."<p>

More silence followed. Georgina and Mil exchanged a look.  
>Professor Snape was quick to set the class into pairs, and assign them all with the task of brewing a simple potion supposed to cure boils.<p>

Mil flipped desperately through her text book.  
>"Where is it?" she hissed to Galen and Bianca, the pair behind her, who were already starting to brew their potion.<br>Galen took her book, and found the page.  
>"Here," she muttered.<p>

Meanwhile, Professor Snape was proclaiming to the class how perfectly Orion and Thorfinn's potion was coming along, even though they'd started barely a minute ago.

Georgina curled her lip in distaste.

Unfortunately for her and Mil, their potion could only get worse. Almost an hour in, they were in trouble.  
>"How many porcupine quills were we supposed to add?" Georgina asked her partner. Their potion was fizzing an acid green that the book certainly didn't describe.<p>

"Two..."

"Uh oh," Georgina muttered.

Professor Snape swept around at that moment, looking, as Georgina thought, like Dracula, or batman. "What have you done?" he demanded, in a quiet yet livid voice.

"I - I..."

"Have you no sense?"

"I didn't know what..." Georgina retorted. Mil elbowed her friend, shooting a glare.

"Detention, Scott," Professor Snape spat.

Mil looked sideways at a pair of Gryffindors across from them. Both were sniggering into their potions.

"As for your potion," Snape continued. "It is a safety hazard. Evanesco." And with a wave of his wand, the potion had vanished.

"I thought the Slytherin head of house was supposed to like his students," Georgina complained, as the four sat down at the back of their History of Magic class.

"Normally," Mil agreed. "But it seems no amount of favoritism has been spent on you."

Georgina made a face. "He gave me detention!"

"And did you see the looks on those Gryffindors' faces?" Galen added. "Man, we need to teach them a lesson."

"For what?" Bianca the peacemaker asked. "They didn't do anything."

"They're not allowed to look at us like that," Galen snapped. "We have to pay them back."

"Man..." Mil muttered. "You're so, so..."

"So what?" Galen prompted.  
>"So Slytherin."<p>

"Does it matter?" Galen retorted. "I _am_ a Slytherin."

Thankfully, Professor Binns, the History of Magic teacher, didn't really pay any attention to what any of his class were doing. He continued waffling on about Winifred the Weird and Envelope the evil - or something of the sort. In fact, he didn't even notice when one of the Gryffindor girls fell asleep - drooling on the desk - and started snoring loudly.

"You're right," Georgina muttered. She'd stopped in the conversation to spend five minutes listening to the teacher, but returned only a minute later. "This is boring."

"Only Professor Binns would manage to make Goblin wars sound boring," Bianca agreed. At least she knew what the ghostly teacher was going on about.

"And you'd think the topic would be interesting," Georgina said. "At least - more interesting than Adolf Hitler and learning about the wars."

"Who's Adolf Hitler?" Galen hissed.

Georgina shrugged. "A bastard. He wanted like a perfect race or something so decided to kill off all the jewish people."

"Like V- you know who?" Mil assumed.

Georgina nodded in response. From what she'd heard about you-know-who, the two sounded pretty similar. "Sort of like that, yes. Who is V- anyway?"

Mil gulped. "We don't say his name."

"But who is he?" Georgina pressed. "What's his name. Come on - I was a muggle until four days ago, and I don't know who."

"His name is like, taboo, or something," Galen said. "That's what my parents told me anyway. Actually, I don't know what his name really is. My parents are very secretive around me."

"Are they... in his crowd?" Mil stammered.

"No!" Galen exclaimed. "I mean, they're not death eaters."

"That doesn't answer my question," Georgina snapped. "Who is V-?"

"Fine," Bianca sighed. "My dad let it slip to me once. His name is... His name is..."

"Spit it out."

"Fine. Voldemort."

"Voldemort?"

"Shh." Mil hissed. "We don't speak his name."

"Why not?" Georgina asked, frowning.

"Just, shh. No wonder Snape hates you."

"But..." Georgina argued.

"His name is taboo or something," Bianca told her. "Even my dad refuses to say it - and he's an auror."

"I don't see what the big deal is," Georgina retorted.

"It just is," Mil said. "Look, do us all a favor, and don't speak his name. It is polite to call him You-Know-Who or the Dark Lord."

Galen sighed. "Guys. This won't get us anywhere. What we need right now is a way to show the Gryffindors that we are Slytherins and Slytherins don't get humiliated. They shouldn't laugh when we get detention."

"We?" Georgina echoed. "I got detention - not you guys."

"We're in this together," Mil told her firmly. "When one goes down, we all stand up."

Georgina grinned. "Thanks."

"So, what shall we do to the cubs?" Galen asked keenly.

"Cubs?" Georgina asked. She was stalling, Mil could tell.  
>"I mean the Gryffindors," Galen translated.<br>Bianca looked around, and indicated the Gryffindors across the aisle. None of them were paying any attention to Professor Binns either. "Can we discuss it later?" she suggested. "Just in case we get intercepted by the Gryffindors."

"Good idea," Mil agreed.

"I find it hard to believe the teacher hasn't pulled us up for talking yet," Georgina muttered.  
>Mil snickered. "He's so absorbed in his lesson that he probably doesn't care."<p>

"I think the novelty of having a class taught by a ghost just wore off," Georgina grumbled.

"It wore off a long time ago," Bianca corrected. "He's so dull."

"Wonder what he was like when he was alive," Mil thought aloud.

"He probably wants to bore us to death with this goblin rubbish so he can have some companions," Galen suggested.

This set the girls in peals of laughter for the last few minutes of the lesson.

"Thank Merlin that's over," Mil commented. "I swear all History of Magic will give us is a time to sleep during the day."

"And plot the downfall of people we don't like," Galen added.

"You are so Slytherin," Bianca commented.

"I'll take that as a compliment."

The Slytherins next class, following lunch (where, much to Georgina's relief, there was no sign of Marshall), was Defense Against the Dark Arts. This class quickly became their favorite, and the teacher, Professor Fatum, also got dubbed the favourite teacher. Professor Fatum, a fun-loving wiry slip of a man, with a stub of a goatee, showed no favoritism for neither the Slytherins or the Gryffindors, as many of the teachers the quartet had encountered so far had. By the end of the first lesson, the majority of the class - Georgina included, much to her excitement - had mastered the wand lighting spell. It was a rather simple spell, they had to admit, and they were originally slightly skeptical as to how 'lumos' would help them in a battle.

"The wand lighting spell," Professor Fatum explained when asked. "Creates a beam of light out of your wand. This is incredibly helpful - as many an auror could tell you - when forced into confrontation in a dark place, as you no longer would be blinded by darkness."

"I don't care what it does," Georgina hissed to her friends. "I'm just glad that I can use magic."

Mil grinned. "Lumos," she whispered, and the tip of her wand illuminated. "It was the first spell my brothers taught me. Not that it worked as well as it is now - I was using my mother's wand."  
>"Spells will always be more powerful using your own wand," Professor Fatum said, walking past them at that moment. Thankfully, he didn't pull them up for talking in class. "Oh and, nice light, Fawcett."<p> 


	5. Chapter 5

**Chapter 5**

That evening, Mil, Bianca, Georgina and Galen sat awake in their dormitory. Bianca and Georgina had their pets - Iris and Mercury respectively - on their laps.  
>"So, regarding the Gryffindors," Galen started. "We have to teach them a lesson."<p>

"You are so Slytherin," Bianca told her.  
>Galen glared in a good natured way. "I'll take that as a compliment."<p>

"No, I agree," Mil spoke up. "They can't get away with laughing at us. We have to get them in trouble, somehow."  
>"Get who in trouble?" A boy's voice asked. They jumped. Georgina's brother, Marshall, had entered, his pet snake draped around his neck like a scarf. "Speaking of. Georgina, a little birdie told me that you got detention."<p>

Georgina groaned. "Sorry. I forgot to tell you."

Marshall glared at her. "Why did you get detention?" he demanded, in a very much 'angry father' tone.  
>"I... I..." Georgina stammered.<br>"She didn't do anything," Mil interrupted. "I was sitting right next to her. All we did wrong was add maybe one more porcupine quill than we were supposed to."

"It was a safety hazard." This made the room's occupants jump. All except Galen, who was doubled over laughing on her bed. Her voice had been such an accurate imitation of Professor Snape's.

"You!" Bianca exclaimed, chuckling a little.  
>Galen smiled impishly. "Sorry. I couldn't resist. But that's what he said."<p>

Marshall was a little more understanding following that. "Professor Snape is a nasty piece of work. I'd steer well clear of him if I were you," he advised.  
>"Pity he's our house master," Georgina muttered.<br>"Some people really like him," Marshall said.

Mil's jaw dropped. "You're kidding. Who?"

"Atia Malfoy, for one," Marshall replied. "She practically hangs off his every word."

Mil mimed vomiting into her hand. "She's a nasty piece of work herself."

Galen nodded in agreement. "The Malfoys are a horrible family," she informed the group. "Atia's got an older brother, Lucius, and he's probably worse. My parents keep dragging me along to parties the Malfoys have invited them to. They've hitched me up with Atia and Lucius a couple of times but all they're interested in is blood status and the Dark Lord this and the Dark Lord that. I think I've heard Snape's name mentioned once or twice. Pretty certain he's in the Dark Lord's crowd - along with Lucius Malfoy."

"God," Bianca muttered. "Sounds like a real friendly bunch."

"I wouldn't cross that family," Galen advised, eying Marshall and Georgina. "Muggle borns aren't exactly on the Malfoy's favorite list - or Snape's, for that matter - even Slytherin muggle borns."

"I figured," Georgina muttered. "I think that's why he hates me so much."

"Watch out for Atia, too," Marshall advocated. "She's got it out for me since we're prefects together. I heard her complaining to Snape about wanting to get me replaced."

"They can't do that!" Georgina exclaimed in defense.

Marshall shook his head. "No, they can't. It's not Snape's judgement. I mean - it is, but not without Dumbledore's approval. And he would never agree."

"Good."

"Well," Marshall sighed, standing up from the bed he'd taken a seat on. "I'd better get on with my homework. Look forward to seventh year kiddos. It's a lot of work."

Georgina made a face as she shut Marshall out. "No. I'm not looking forward to it."

"I think I'd rather stay first year for ever," Mil agreed.

* * *

><p>The rest of the week passed without hiccup. The girls attended classes, met the rest of the teachers (Professor Fatum remained the favorite, however) and then got their first taste of homework.<br>"Damn essays," Georgina grumbled. "And here I thought I was free from essays forever."

"Sorry sis, should have warned ya," Marshall, who was beside her at the Slytherin table in the Great Hall for dinner, said. "The majority of your homework is essays."

"But how the hell do you write essays for herbology?" Bianca questioned. "I mean, it's pretty obvious what the difference between Glittering Geraniums and a Moly is. I mean, one sprays you with glitter and the other gives you protection against enchantments."

"How many words?" Marshall asked.

"Five hundred," Galen sighed.

Mil laughed a little. "Oh thank goodness. I thought Beery said five thousand and I panicked a little."

Georgina snickered.  
>Marshall was chuckling as well. "Five hundred? That's nothing. Please, I'll swap your five hundred word essay for mine - several pieces of parchment."<p>

Mil was nodding. "Yeah. Come on, guys. Five hundred won't take us long at all between us. And I'll bet if I blackmail my brothers enough they might help us. They're Ravenclaws - they love study."

"As do you," Bianca pointed out. Sure, Mil had been the one who had forced her friends to practice the wand-lighting spell late that night.

"Nerd," Georgina muttered.  
>"Shut up," Mil said, however, good-naturedly.<p>

* * *

><p>The next morning, as usual, the owl post arrived. Athena arrived, bearing another letter for Mil, who smiled and pocketed it hastily. Georgina was another receiver of mail. A sooty black school owl, that looked ominously like a crow, bore a stiff piece of parchment for her. Bianca stared at the letter as the owl flew off.<p>

"Who's it from?" Galen asked.

Georgina turned the paper over towards Galen, so that she could see the neat calligraphy.

"That's not Snape's writing, is it?" Galen asked, recognizing the writing from the blackboard in the potions classroom.

Georgina looked up to the staff table, where Snape was glaring at her, hands clasped beneath his chin.  
>"I think it is," she replied shakily.<p>

"Open it," Bianca urged.

"But what if it's a bomb?" Georgina asked. "What if he's rigged it so that it explodes when I open it."

"As much as Snape might like to, I don't think Dumbledore would allow it," Mil pointed out. "Just open it. It's probably harmless."

It was - sort of.

Georgina mentally groaned as she skim read the message.

"It's about my detention," she explained to her friends, heart sinking. "I kinda hoped he'd forgotten about that."

Galen scoffed. "Professor Snape? Forget? He doesn't seem the type."

"You're right," Georgina agreed.  
>They'd had two more potions classes that week, both with the Gryffindors. Professor Snape had fallen into what appeared to be a habit - he'd taken about a hundred points from Gryffindor, and each of the Slytherin first years - bar Georgina - had in their turn received from him a decent number each. The reasons for awarding these points ranged from merely answering a simple question correctly, or, in Snape's opinion, concocting the best potion. Orion and Thorfinn, who'd each received fifty points from Snape in the past week, were ecstatic. They clearly loved the favoritism, and were quickly earning themselves the title of the bullies in first year.<p>

Thankfully, Snape had left Georgina alone, more or less. She hadn't got in any more trouble yet, at least, however, she hadn't received praise of any sort from the potions master. In fact, he hadn't said a word to her.

Any now she'd just received her notice of detention with him.

"It's tonight," Georgina informed them grimly. "At seven in his office. Aw man - I'm gonna be there all night."

"We'll wait up," Mil promised.

"But then we'll be tired for class tomorrow."

"Bianca, it's Friday today," Galen pointed out.

Georgina grinned. "Thanks guys."

"We want to hear all about it," Mil said teasingly.

Georgina resisted the urge to hit her friend. "It's detention," she pointed out. "Not a date."

"Very true."

Marshall clapped Georgina on the shoulder as he passed. "Have fun in detention," he hissed, prompting a glare from his sister. "Remember, if Snape's too harsh, you can go to Dumbledore."

"Don't worry," Georgina assured her brother. "I'll be fine. I don't need to go to Dumbledore. All teachers have someone they dislike - Snape's just happens to be me."

"Still," Marshall pointed out. "Just be careful. Snape may be a teacher, but he has to follow rules just like the rest of us."

* * *

><p>Mil was curled in a ball on her bed. The lights were out, yet each of the three girls in the room had lit their wands, so the room was bathed in a soft glow.<p>

Bianca yawned. "Can't I just go to sleep for a few minutes?" she begged. "Georgina won't know."

"No," Galen snapped. "We promised Georgina we'd wait up for her."

"I'm just so tired," Bianca complained. "What's the time, anyway?"

"Eight," Mil responded simply.

Galen looked behind herself at her other friend. "Whatcha doing anyway, Mil?"

"Writing a letter home," Mil replied. She chewed the end of her eagle feather quill. "Mom was wanting to know how my first week was going."

"I hope you didn't say anything mean about us," Galen joked.

Mil snickered. "I told them I had three stalkers who won't leave me alone."

Galen picked up a pillow from her bed, and threw it hard across the room to Mil. The other girl reacted quickly, raising her wand and shouting: "Protego." A shield erupted, bouncing the pillow back to the ground.

"Nice shield," Galen praised her.

The 'protego' spell had been one of the most recent spells Professor Flitwick had taught them in class. Mil had been the first to conjure one, as it had been one of the spells Sam had taught her at home. The rest of the class was still struggling, though one of the Ravenclaws they were paired with for charms was very close.

"Thanks," Mil responded.

"Guys, stop it," Bianca muttered sleepily.

Galen smirked, and picked up the same pillow she'd thrown at Mil, which was lying at her feet.

"Hey, Bianca," she announced. "This should wake you up." She launched the pillow, and it hit Bianca square in the chest. She and her cat, Iris, both uncurled themselves, yowling almost identically.

"Stop it!" Bianca whined. She threw the pillow back, and Galen caught it.

Mil sat up from her bed, folding up her letter.

"I'll take that to the owlery in the morning," she announced. "Right now - can we do something? I'm bored."

"Same here," Galen agreed. "I've been bored for hours. Come on, Bianca, let's do something."

"Anyone have a set of wizard's chess?" Mil asked.

Bianca's face lit up. "You know what, I do. My dad gave me his old set as a gift for getting into Hogwarts. The thing's pretty ancient, so some of the pieces can get pretty cranky with you."

"It doesn't matter," Galen said quickly. "Let's have a round. Bianca, you and I will play first. Winner versus Mil - she's pretty good."

"Shut up," Mil complained teasingly, sitting back on her bed.

* * *

><p>"Yes!" Bianca exclaimed, sitting back two hours later. She'd just dominated Mil in the final round of chess. "I bet you, I bet you."<p>

"Beginners luck," Mil grunted, lying backwards onto the ground. "If I'd been using my pieces, I would have aced you. Just because that set knows you..."

"Well, we can have another round later," Bianca promised. "I'll use these, you can use yours."

"Deal."

Georgina swept in moments after the girls had packed away their chess set.

"I'm beat," she announced, flinging herself onto her bed.

"What did he make you do?" Galen wanted to know.

Georgina groaned. "He had me scrubbing cauldrons - without magic. I swear some of those potions don't come off. And it looked like someone had thrown up in one of them."

"That's gross," Mil declared.

"Snape wasn't too harsh, was he?" Bianca wanted to know.

Georgina shook her head swiftly. "No, he was fine. I mean, not nice, but he didn't say anything mean except a few comments about how bad I am at potions. But that's not nasty - that's the truth. I suck at potions."

"As do I," Bianca added. "At least Mil and Galen are good - they can keep us alive for as long as possible."

"Thanks."

Mil stood up off the ground, and sat down on Georgina's bed. A wave of stench slapped her nostrils heavily.

"Urgh. And you stink, Georgina," Mil complained. "Go shower."

Georgina heaved herself off her bed. "Shut it."

"Now can we go to bed?" Bianca wanted to know. "I'm so tired I could sleep for decades. That chess game wore me out."

"No it didn't," Mil argued. "You're just saying that."

When Georgina returned from the shower, everyone else was ready for bed. The four crawled into bed.

"Night guys," Georgina said. "Don't let the bed bugs bite."

"What?" Mil asked, confused.

Georgina shrugged. "Don't worry about it. It's a muggle thing."

"You and your muggle things," Galen muttered.

"Anyhow, good night."

"Night Georgina," Mil replied. "Night Galen. Night Bianca."

"Night guys," Galen said.

Bianca was silent. She had long since fallen asleep.


	6. Chapter 6

**Chapter 6**

A month passed. The quartet had finally decided on a way to teach the Gryffindors a lesson. This went majorly amiss - possibly because the idea had been Marshall's - and all four, plus Marshall, had landed in detention with McGonagall, with none of the Gryffindor students targeted receiving any side effects or even trouble of any kind. Bianca decided for them all after that, that all further attempts were to be abandoned - bar the occasional spell in the hall. On the other hand, Snape had started to leave Georgina alone, though a scathing comment or two never went amiss when it came to her or Marshall - being the only two muggleborn Slytherins. Flying lessons finished after three weeks, much to Mil and Galen's disappointment - both of whom were proving to be competent fliers.

"I'm gonna trial for the quidditch team next year," Galen announced.  
>"Same here," Mil agreed. "Keeper, I'm thinking."<p>

"I'm gonna go for chaser," Galen said. "There's more action. Keeper doesn't do much but save goals."

"And I'm not gonna trial at all," Georgina interrupted. "In fact, I'm gonna stay as far away from brooms as I possibly can." Poor Georgina was yet to conquer her fear of heights - in fact, she was lucky to get her feet off the ground. The only time she'd managed to do it was when her dodgy broom - which turned out to be the same one the unfortunate Ravenclaw had been using in their first flying lesson - took off under her in their second week of lessons. Following that, her feet had remained firmly on the solid ground. Bianca's flying was faring similarly. She didn't quite have the balance to be successful in the sport, as they'd found out in the first lesson they'd actually gotten off the ground - where she'd fallen and broken her arm.

In other news, the girls were now beginning to master some spells. By now, 'protego' had been mastered, as well as the leg-locker charm, which had been used on many a Gryffindor - mainly by Orion and Thorfinn, who were abusing the fact that they were Slytherins; but also once by Galen, egged on by one of the Gryffindor boys who'd taken every opportunity to scorn Georgina for being a muggleborn Slytherin - the only time they'd ever heard a Gryffindor use the term 'mudblood'.

Similarly, Georgina had experienced the bullying Marshall had explained. Atia Malfoy, tagged along closely by her two cronies - whom they were yet to learn the names of - had begun to shoot curses and hexes at Georgina and her friends in the hallways - similar to what Bianca explained typically occurred between Slytherins and Gryffindors.

* * *

><p>On this particular Friday, Georgina, Mil, Galen and Bianca entered the chilly Great Hall to find the room lit with candles in pumpkins. Pumpkins and (hopefully fake) skulls decorated the tables amongst food.<p>

"Halloween," Galen announced.

Georgina stared around the room, mouth catching flies. "Wow." She whispered. "This is incredible."

"Tell me about it," a voice said in agreement. They turned, Henry Fawcett, Mil's brother whom the quartet had grown rather close to, had turned up behind them, accompanied by his and Mil's brother, Sam, and a girl, who looked vaguely familiar.

"Hey sis," Sam greeted Mil.

"Hey, Sam," Mil said. "How's studies?"

Sam snickered. "I swear the teachers think OWLS are next week or something. They pack us up with so much stuff I'm almost getting sick of it."

"Ironic," Galen muttered. "Never thought I'd hear a Ravenclaw say that."

"Shut up," Sam retorted, however, good-naturedly.

"Oh, this is Artemis," Henry cut in, introducing the girl beside him. "Artemis Scamander. She's my girlfriend."

Mil stared, wide eyed. "Henry, if you're wanting an April Fool's joke, then you've picked the wrong celebration. This is October. It's Halloween, not April Fools."

"I'm serious, Mil," Henry said.

"Wow," Mil said simply. "Well then, hi Artemis. I'm Mil. Mil Fawcett."

"I know," Artemis replied. "I was the one who helped you four find your way back on the first day. Remember?"

That explained why she looked familiar.

"Well, we'd better go," Sam announced. "We've got potions first, and I want some food before dealing with Snape."

"Good luck," Georgina muttered.

"Come on," Galen urged them. "I need food, and post is arriving soon."

Moments after sitting down, the now familiar sound of flapping filled the air. One of the first owls to arrive landed in front of Galen, however, it wasn't the huge mottled eagle owl that was Tiny. Tied to its' leg, were not one, but two bits of parchment. Galen opened a letter written in a thick, messy scrawl that was certainly not anyone in her family's writing first.

_Dear Galen Zabini, _it read.

_I am sorry to inform you that your owl has just arrived to me in a bad way. It appears that she was attacked by another bird on her journey. She is currently in my care, and I will ensure that she returns to full health quickly. You are welcome to come visit her whenever it suits you._

_I have attached the letter she was carrying with this owl._

_Regards_

_Hagrid_

"What's happened?" Mil demanded.

"Tiny's been attacked," Galen explained, voice shaking. "It sounds like a bird attacked her when she way flying."

"That's terrible!" Georgina exclaimed. "I'm sorry. I know you and her are close."

Mil rubbed her friend on the back. "Tell you what," she declared. "We've got classes now, but as soon as we break for lunch, we can go down to Hagrid's and see her."

"Who's Hagrid?" Georgina wanted to know.

"Gamekeeper," Galen explained. "He's the big guy who brought us on the boats here."

On the other side of the table, Bianca had tears streaming down her face. Her shaking hands had dropped the letter into her porridge, where it was now turning soggy.

"Hey, Bianca, what's wrong?" Mil asked gently.

Bianca was silent, as wracking sobs shook her body.

"Bianca?" Galen and Georgina queried in unison.

Bianca didn't speak. She couldn't. Whenever she opened her mouth all that came out were choked sobs. Bianca rose from the table, and swept out of the Great Hall, ignoring the questions she was receiving from her friends she'd just left behind at the Slytherin table.

"I wonder what's wrong?" Mil mused, staring after Bianca's retreating bob.

"Should we go after her?" Galen asked.

"Leave her alone," Georgina advised them. "She probably just wants to be left alone. We'll see her later."

As it turned out, they did not see Bianca later. Mil, Georgina and Galen sat through Transfiguration and Herbology and through neither class did Bianca arrive.

"Where is she?" Galen fretted as they hurried from Herbology to the Great Hall for lunch.

"If you're worried about her, go talk to Dumbledore," Marshall advised, striding up to them from Care of Magical Creatures. "I saw her heading up that way when I was on my way to Charms."

Mil looked at her friends. "Come on guys. Let's go talk to Dumbledore. Uhm - Marshall, you wouldn't happen to know the password, would you."

"Gummy bears," Marshall said immediately.

The trio stared at him. "It's slightly creepy that you even know that."

Marshall merely shrugging, pulling a poker face. Georgina rolled her eyes.

"We'll see you later then," Georgina announced.

* * *

><p>The girls were almost out of breath by they reached the stone gargoyles that flanked the entrance to Dumbledore's office.<p>

"Why does he have to have his office so bloody high?" Mil panted.

"Probably to prevent people like M finding it," Georgina replied jokingly. "Not that it prevented him."

"You think he was joking about the password?" Galen wanted to know. "Nobody has a sweet as a password."

"Let's just try it," Mil declared. She stepped towards the gargoyles, and declared - "Gummy bears."

To their surprise, the stone gargoyles leaped apart, revealing the staircase leading up even further to Dumbledore's office.

Galen rapped on the door at the top of the stairs, and it flew open immediately. Dumbledore, dressed in black robes that clashed with his beard to make him look like a zebra or a cow, was seated at his desk. His wand was out, making it appear that he hadn't even risen to open the door. He probably hadn't.

Dumbledore raised his thick eyebrows at the first years. "How did you get up here?" he asked, however, he wasn't angry.

"My - my brother told us the password, sir," Georgina stammered, intimidated by the old wizard.

Dumbledore's eyes twinkled with humor over his half-moon spectacles. "And you brother would be Marshall Scott, correct?"

"Yes sir."

Dumbledore sighed, chuckling a little. "Of course. I really should get around to changing it. Now, for what reason have you come to see me, today? I assume it was not just to exchange pleasantries."

"No, professor," Galen answered. "See, our friend, sir, Bianca Abbott, left breakfast this morning crying. We haven't seen her since."

"And we were wondering if you, you know, would know what is wrong?" Mil added.

Dumbledore's face fell, his weathered cheeks sagging. "Ah, poor girl. Your friend came to see me. I am afraid she received some very sad news this morning. Her father was killed in action."

"In the war?" Mil assumed.

"Yes."

None of the girls knew what to say. Never before had the action of the war seemed so close. But here they were, with their friend's father now dead because of it.

"She went home already," Dumbledore continued. "I understand she wanted to be with her family, and of course she was allowed."

The girls left Dumbledore shortly afterwards, heavy hearted.

"Suddenly Tiny doesn't seem to big of an ordeal," Galen murmured as they walked.

"You're right," Georgina agreed. "Poor Bianca. It's horrible."

Mil was silent as they walked, deep in thought. Her own father was an auror as well. It could have just as easily been her father that had been killed. But it wasn't, it was her best friend's.

"We still have to go to classes, don't we?" Galen asked.

"I don't think Snape would let us skip potions if _you _died," Georgina grumbled.

"I don't think he'd let me skip potions even if I had died," Galen corrected.

"At least he likes you," Georgina muttered.  
>"I'm hungry," Galen declared out of the blue. "Anyone else?"<p>

"You're always hungry," Georgina pointed out.

Mil sighed heavily. "I'm going to class. Galen, if you stop by the Great Hall, pick me up a sandwich, would you? No mayo, or pumpkin."

"Mil, we have twenty minutes to class," Galen pointed out.

Mil shrugged her bag further up onto her shoulder. "I know. But I have something I need to do."

Mil had lied. She didn't go to potions straight away. Instead, she doubled back, and headed to the library, where she knew she could find Sam.

"Are you alright?" Sam asked kindly, as his sister slid out a chair beside him.

"Fine," Mil said heavily. Sam simply raised an eyebrow. Mil heaved a sigh. "No, I'm not fine. My friend's dad just died. He was an auror, I just keep thinking... it could have been us in her position, Sam. Dad's an auror too. What if he gets killed?"

Sam slammed his heavy textbook shut, and leaned back in his chair, stance casual. "No, Mil," he corrected. "Dad's good at his job. He'll be fine. Don't worry about him. Just, concentrate on your studies - let dad worry about himself."

"But Bianca's father died in action," Mil fretted. "That's what Dumbledore told me."

"Doesn't necessarily mean auror work," Sam pointed out. "He could have been involved elsewhere. We don't know the family."

Mil exhaled. "You're right."

Sam clapped her sister's shoulder. "Right. I should get to class. And you should too - you've got potions, right?"

"Yup," Mil affirmed with a sigh.

"Then you don't want to be late for Snape."

A smile tugged at the corner of Mil's mouth. "Thanks, Sam. It was nice talking to you."

"Anytime," Sam agreed.

They went their separate ways, and Mil headed off to the dungeons, where she rejoined her friends outside the potions classroom, the light returning to her eyes.

For some reason, Snape was in an incredibly foul mood. He paid no attention to the fact that it was halloween - a celebration, and set the class to work on a complicated potion. By the end of the lesson, one Gryffindor had received detention - Sofia Solis, in fact, Bianca's friend from home - and what seemed like the rest of the Gryffindors had had points docked.

* * *

><p>The Halloween feast that evening, was something that crept up unexpectedly for Mil, Galen and Georgina. The Great Hall had been decorated even more extravagantly than it had that morning, with live bats swooping the ceiling, cackling madly, and carved pumpkins the size of small boats floated just above the students' heads. Even the feast itself was impressive. A vast array of foods was spread out along the tables. All present students and staff attended - bar Professor Binns, who never came out of his classroom for anything - including the large number of ghosts. The air was filled with the chatter of many students. There was a rumor spread that Dumbledore had ordered a troupe of dancing skeletons. The excitement of students was infectious, and soon, Mil, Galen and Georgina had forgotten their gloominess, and were soon laughing and joking at their table with Marshall and the ghost of a boy still dressed in Hogwarts uniform. Most of the ghosts interacted with the students - all except Bloody Baron, the Slytherin ghost, whom the girls had to admit they were a bit scared of.<p>

However, the joy filling the girls' faces didn't last all night. When the feast ended, Mil, Galen and Georgina, accompanied by Marshall, trooped back to their common room, somber faced.

* * *

><p>Saturday, November 1st arrived quickly and passed slowly. Bored, and with no homework, Mil, Galen and Georgina sat down in their common room. Bianca still hadn't returned that morning.<p>

"Anyone wanna go see the Squid?" Mil asked. Galen and Georgina shook their heads. It wasn't fun without Bianca. "Any one wanna volunteer so I can practice my defense skills on them?"

"Go find a Gryffindor," Galen suggested.

"We're in the Slytherin common room," Mil pointed out. "Chess, anyone?"

"Wizards play chess?" Georgina asked.

Mil nodded vigorously. "Yup. It's a fun pastime. We'll teach you." She bounced to her feet...

"Mil, it's Bianca's," Galen reminded her.

... and sat heavily back down again.

"Well, what shall we do, then?" Mil sighed. "I'm bored."

Bianca's abandoned cat, Iris, meowed in what sounded like agreement. She was probably down here to escape Georgina's snake, Mercury, who was currently down in the dorm.

"Why don't we go visit Tiny at Hagrid's?" Georgina suggested.

Galen leaped to her feet, narrowly missing kicking a sixth year in the face. "Good idea. Let's go."


	7. Chapter 7

**Chapter 7**

Mil sighed as she lay back onto her bed. She'd just finished writing an essay for McGonagall on the correct wand movements for a spell she couldn't even remember what it was supposed to do - and virtually dictated it to Georgina and Galen as they struggled to get theirs finished. Two weeks had passed since they'd heard the news of Bianca's father, and Bianca still hadn't returned back to school.

"I think they should ban homework in the weekend," Galen commented, rising up from the floor.

Georgina, who'd had her homework spread out on her bed, shook out her aching wrists. "This is torture," she declared. "Hey, anyone heard from Bianca?"

Mil shook her head. "I sent Athena with a letter and some chocolate last week. But I never got a reply."

"I hope she's not ignoring us," Galen said.

"She's upset," Georgina pointed out. "Her father died. I wouldn't blame her if she doesn't want to speak to anyone."

"We could send her another owl?" Galen suggested.

"I hope Tiny's up to the journey, because I lent Athena to Sam so he could send a letter home," Mil said.

"We'll use one of the school owls," Galen decided. "Tiny can have a few weeks off."

"Okay." Georgina picked up her quill again, and fished a black piece of parchment out from scrolls of homework. "Well, what shall we say?"

Iris, Bianca's tabby, sat up and started meowing at the door.

"Shush, Iris," Mil snapped.

But the cat just kept on meowing, getting more and more excited.

The door to the dormitory opened, and Bianca stepped in.

"Hey guys," she said shyly.

Their was an immediate scuffle, and Bianca soon found herself enveloped in the arms of three overexcited first years.

Their voices clamored over top of each other.

"How are you?"

"Sorry about your dad."

"We missed you!"

"Are you alright?"

"Your cat is a pain in the ass!"

Bianca laughed softly, and shoved her way out of the group hug. She sat herself down on her bed, and a purring Iris leaped into her lap.

"How's Tiny?" Bianca wanted to know.

Galen's eyebrows rose. "Tiny's fine. I took her back up to the owlery yesterday. Why do you care about my owl anyway? Your dad just died and you're asking me how my owl is."

Bianca's hazel eyes took on a watery appearance. "I'd rather not talk about it," she said. "I just... Look. I don't want to talk about it right at the moment. There are no words for what happened. I'll talk when I'm ready, but right now... I'm going to the library. I've got loads of work to catch up on." She shoved Iris off her lap, and stalked out of the room, picking up her book bag as she did.

The girls stared after her.

"Is she alright?" Galen asked.

"Probably not," Mil replied. "Her father died."

Georgina sighed. "So what do we do? How do we comfort her."

"We don't," Mil corrected. "Leave her alone. She'll talk when she's ready."

"I'll keep an eye on her," Georgina decided.

"Yes, but don't go find her right now," Mil ordered. "She wants to be alone."

But they got worried when Bianca didn't resurface for dinner.

"Shall we take her some dinner?" Georgina wanted to know.

"We can go to the kitchens and get her something if she's hungry," Mil said. She rose to her feet, abandoning the last of her dinner. "I'm gonna go find her."

Galen got up too. "I'll come with you."

"I'm going alone," Mil corrected. "It'd be easier with just one. I'll see you guys back in the dorm later."

Mil found Bianca in the library. The small girl was curled in a ball on a pillow, unopened book between her knees.

Mil sat down beside her friend. "Are you alright?" she asked gently.

"I'm fine," Bianca replied in a small voice.

"Really?" Mil prompted. "You missed dinner."

"I wasn't hungry."

"You have to eat."

"Leave me alone, Mil," Bianca snapped. "I just want to be alone." She got up, and hurried out of the library. Mil followed, breaking into a run, and eventually caught up to Bianca inside the trophy room.

"We shouldn't be in here," Mil hissed to Bianca. "If Filch catches us..."

"I don't care if I get detention," Bianca snapped. "I don't care. My father is dead, Mil. My father is dead because of V-Voldemort."

Mil gaped. "Don't use that name."

"Fear of the name only increases fear of the thing itself," Bianca snapped. "That's what my father always told me." And she broke down into tears, slumping against a cabinet containing a large Quidditch trophy.

Mil dropped to her knees beside her friend. "Talk to me," she murmured.

Bianca, head in her hands, mumbled intelligibly.

"At least come out of here," Mil begged. "I don't know about you, but I for one don't fancy getting another detention. My parents would kill me."

Bianca's head went up. She'd stopped crying now, but tears still formed silver snail tracks down her cheeks.

"And we'll get you some dinner."

"Where?" Bianca questioned, curiosity overtaking her sorrow. "Dinner has finished now. It's after eight."

Mil grinned mysteriously. "I know. But luckily for us, Marshall showed us where the kitchens are. They have house elves, who I'm sure will be more than happy to supply you with dinner. And they have amazing chocolate mousse."

Bianca sighed in defeat, and let herself be led down a few flights of stairs to reach the basement. Mil stopped them in front of a painting of a fruit bowl.

Bianca stared at her friend as if she were half nuts. "I hope you realize that this is a painting of a fruit bowl."

Mil smiled, and reached out to tickle the large pear. It giggled, and the door swung open, revealing hordes of house elves, saucepan eyes staring as if they had been expecting Mil and Bianca.

The house elf in the front bowed low. "Mistress Mil. It is an honor that you came to visit Rosie and us all again."

Mil grinned down at the small elf. "Hey, Rosie. And this is my friend, Bianca."

Again, Rosie and the other elves behind her bowed so low their long noses brushed the stone floor.

"A pleasure, Mistress Bianca," Rosie squeaked. "How can Rosie help you tonight?"

Bianca had to smile at the elves, who were all very keen to please.

"Well... I didn't have dinner," Bianca stammered.

"Rosie will make mistress Bianca something to eat," Rosie declared earnestly.

'Something' was an understatement. Almost immediately, the horde of house elves, pressed Mil and Bianca further into the kitchen. They drew out a table and chairs for two, and soon had a full plate of juicy steak, fries and assorted vegetables in front of Bianca. Then, Rosie turned to address Mil.

"Does Mistress Mil want anything to eat?"

Mil couldn't resist. A smile split her face. "Your chocolate mousse is to die for," she admitted. "Not literally," she added quickly, as a horrified expression came upon Rosie's face. "It's a figure of speech."

So a bowl of chocolate mousse, embellished with a hearty scoop of vanilla ice cream was placed in front of Mil.

Bianca and Mil ate in silence. Once finished, and after being presented with so much fruit and chocolate to take up to their friends they almost needed a bag to carry it all, they headed down even further to the school's dungeons, and into the Slytherin common room. Eyes turned as they entered, laden with food, but Mil stopped the crowd with a sharp, McGonagall worthy glare, and the crowd gave the pair a free passage to their dormitory, food intact. Bianca tickled the snake door handle, which was now known by most, thanks to Marshall, as Monty Python - not that anyone bar the Scotts knew what the term actually meant.

Galen and Georgina leaped on them as soon as they entered - Galen wanting the food and Bianca, Georgina to enquire where Bianca had been.

Mil delivered them the same warning glare she'd given in the common room just before.

"Don't ask her," she hissed. "She doesn't want to talk, and that is fine with me. She can talk when she wants to."

Georgina and Galen both sighed in slight defeat.

The quartet, reunited again, sat down to eat the chocolate and fruit.

Galen, now chewing some sort of kebab, made a face.

"Mandarin," she declared. "Disgusting."

"You? Not liking food?" Bianca asked. For some reason, she was overly cheerful tonight. "Never thought I'd see the day."

Galen grinned around her food. "It's not a crime. I never have liked mandarin."

"Wow," Bianca said simply.

Sunday arrived sooner than expected. The four girls had got little sleep that night, though Bianca didn't talk much, sitting around chatting and eating. They ate breakfast the next morning in almost total silence.

"Mil, can I talk to you?" Bianca asked, breaking the silence. "Alone?"

"Sure," Mil agreed. She followed Bianca out of the Great Hall. But she didn't stop there. Bianca led Mil up several sets of staircases, up to the third floor. She tapped a one eyed, humped witch statue, which revealed a secret passage behind her.

"Where does this lead?" Mil asked.

Bianca shrugged. "I actually have no idea. But no-one else knows about it but me, so it's useful if I want to be alone."

They fell silent. The dark passage was lit only by the dim beam pulsing from Bianca's wand.

"You wanted to talk to me?" Mil asked to break the silence.

Bianca nodded, then slid herself down the wall to sit cross legged on the ground. Mil sat herself down on the cold stone ground beside her friend.

Bianca sighed, then started to speak. "My father died in the war," she began. "It wasn't auror work. That's all mom would tell me. I think he was part of a secret society or something. There were lots of people at the funeral. Not many people I knew. It wasn't a big ceremony though. I wasn't allowed to speak for him. Kingsley, one of the young aurors did a speech, and Dumbledore, and my mother. It just... He's gone, Mil. He was my one link to this world. He was the one person I could really confide in. Mom doesn't really understand, and of course, she's a muggle, she can't see Hogwarts - she doesn't understand. And I've got no relatives in this world left. They're all dead now. I think there's a squib in the family - but we never talk of him. But my father is dead. That's the point. And I wasn't there. I couldn't save him, I couldn't warn him. I'm sick of this war, Mil. I just want it to end. I want Voldemort to die. Someone has to kill him, to avenge my father, to avenge everyone else who has died at his wand. And no, I'm not going to stop saying his name. If I don't say his name, it feels as if I am scared - a coward. I'm not a coward. I want Voldemort dead!" Her voice rose to a shout, which echoed around them in the confined corridor. Mil flinched. She opened her mouth to say something comforting, but Bianca wasn't done. By now, tears were freely flowing from her eyes, like a broken tap. "I loved my father. He and I were so close. I never had any brothers or sisters, so my father acted as one. He was a father, and a brother and a mentor all rolled into one. He was perfect, and he was brilliant, and I loved him. And now he's gone. I'm all alone." She gave two deep, noisy breaths, then began sobbing once more, her tears staining the shoulder of Mil's jersey.

Mil didn't speak for a while. She just let Bianca cry on her shoulder. Cry and let it all out.

After what seemed like eternity, Bianca finally let herself sit up, hiccoughing.

"You okay?" Mil asked softly.

Bianca nodded meekly, wiping her tears away with her sleeve. But the pair remained sitting there in the dark and the cold - the light from Bianca's wand had long since been extinguished.

"We should probably go back to the dormitory soon," Bianca announced.

Mil rose to her feet, helping Bianca up along with her.

"Come on," she urged. "Hey, and if you like, we could stop by at the kitchens and get some chocolate."

Bianca nodded. "Chocolate fixes everything," she agreed.


	8. Chapter 8

**Chapter 8**

Following her and Mil's talk, Bianca began to recover. The light slowly began to return to her eyes, and she returned to her more chirpy self. Neither Mil nor Bianca had said a word of what Bianca had told Mil that day in the hallway behind the statue of the one-eyed witch with a hump. Bianca hadn't sworn Mil to secrecy, exactly, but there are some things that are best kept a secret.

One thing they noticed, however, was that the teachers were a hell of a lot kinder to Bianca than normal.

"Merlin, who knew Snape was capable of that," Galen muttered one day when they'd caught Snape smiling, actually smiling, at Bianca during potions.

"He probably feels sorry for her," Georgina, her partner, hissed back. Following Georgina's disastrous first potions lesson, Snape had paired up Galen (who was easily the best Slytherin first year at potions) and Georgina, as then maybe: "Zabini will be able to prevent you from making the same disastrous errors as Fawcett allowed you to make". This left Mil and Bianca paired. They seemed to do a rather apt job, both of whom being passable in the art of potion brewing.

"Really?" Galen asked in a whisper. "More like he was put up to it."

Georgina snickered into her potion. "I can't think of many people who'd be able to make Snape smile - even for a thousand galleons."

Galen nodded, frowning. "You're right. He'd probably have to be under the imperious curse."

Georgina, who'd by now been told about the imperious curse, and its unforgivable partners, due to their popularity in the current war - with Death Eaters in particular - smirked. "Even then, he'd probably fight it - if that's possible."

"It's happened," Galen whispered back grimly. "But it'd be painful as hell and damn near impossible."

Unfortunately for them, Professor Snape came around to check how the potions were coming along. Fortunately, he gave them no other punishment aside from a growling: "Shh. Get on with it." Across from the pair, however, two Gryffindors, who were even less distracted than Galen and Georgina had been, got ten points deducted each for talking.

"Favoritism much," Georgina muttered.

"Hark who's talking," Galen hissed back.

Georgina sighed. "Shut up."

* * *

><p>The weeks passed like a blur. Slytherin, surprise, surprise, was well on the way to winning the house cup, even though the year was only half through. The strong Slytherin Quidditch team (which Galen, Mil and even Bianca had avidly followed, attending all the games any team had played to date. Georgina was staying as far away from the pitch as she could, claiming that the mere sight of people in the air made her queasy) had dominated both the Hufflepuff and Gryffindor teams by a huge amount. The Slytherins, undoubtably, were rapt at the results as the holidays approached, and, as Henry and Sam Fawcett would tell Mil, Galen, Georgina and Bianca, their house and head teacher were becoming almost unbearable.<p>

Very soon, Professor Snape was coming around asking for names of who would be staying at Hogwarts over the Christmas holidays. Talk of the upcoming celebration eagerly replaced the talk of war. Marshall and Georgina had organized to go home to their family and surprise them (Marshall's idea, Georgina insisted), as their muggle parents had no idea how to use owl post, and on the other end, muggle technology didn't work in Hogwarts. The Fawcett house was to be busy over the Christmas holidays, as Mil, Henry and Sam were all going home, accompanied by Galen, who'd been invited round for the holidays as Galen's parents had received two tickets to a function of some sorts in Ireland, and couldn't take Galen. Henry, somehow, had also managed to convince his parents that his girlfriend of now almost two months, Artemis Scamander, was allowed to spend the holidays with him. Bianca too, was going home, to spend her first christmas with just her mother for company.

Unfortunately for them, all the teachers seemed to have the same thing in mind - and that was homework. None of the teachers were keen on the idea that, even as first years, the students should have a break from school work. And, because of something called a trace, the students couldn't physically practice spells outside the school, each of the teachers had set them essays. For astronomy, they had been set a sheet on which they had to identify the planets and name all the moons based on their positioning around their planet. Snape had set his students a research task where they had to identify all herbs and plants used in first year potions, and explain how they must be prepared for use in potions in general, and then what must be further done to them so they are suitable ingredients for each potion they are used in. Professor Binns for History of Magic had set them some sort of homework which had a unanimous vote between the girls that it would be left at the bottom of their school bag. For Defense Against the Dark Arts, they were issued an essay on how to identify a werewolf. Transfiguration with Professor McGonagall had them do something on the transfiguration formula, which Bianca in particular was finding it was proving to be very difficult to remember.

* * *

><p>Mil, Galen, Georgina and Bianca trooped through the courtyard to the school carriages - which appeared to be pulled by nothing at all - laden with their trunks, which seemed to be even more full then they were at the start of term, and their animal trunks. It had taken them almost a full hour for them to find Mercury that morning, who'd been badly spooked by Iris earlier in the week and had taken to hiding out. They'd found him under Marshall's bed in the seventh year boys' dorm, hiding out with Marshall's taipan snake, Dom.<p>

"I swear Sam told me these things were pulled by horse things," Mil said, frowning as they approached the carriages. "I don't see anything."

"Neither," Galen agreed. "Nothing pulls them, does it?"

Mil shrugged. "Maybe Sam was joking."

"Maybe only certain people can see it?" Bianca suggested.

"Either way," Georgina cut in. "The carriages are filling up. So if you guys still want to go home, we'd better get on."

The rest of them laughed and hurried onto the carriages, animal cages rattling behind them. Their trunks would be taken to the train separately.

* * *

><p>Mil, Galen, Bianca and Georgina found themselves their own compartment on the train. They sat down, all four of them trying to squeeze onto the same bench. This failed, and Georgina and Mil found themselves dumped on the ground. Galen and Bianca, the two left successfully on the bench, stuck their tongues out at the pair on the ground, and burst into laughter.<p>

Mil shot the pair a disgruntled look, and turned to Georgina. "Come on," she urged her friend. "Ignore those two. I'll teach you how to play wizard's chess."

"How?" Georgina asked. "You don't have a chess set, do you?"

"No. But Bianca does," Mil replied.

As if in response, Bianca pulled out her set of Wizards Chess, which she'd kept, in her book bag, with her. Bianca, Galen and Mil began another tournament, seated on the floor of the compartment. Georgina flicked between watching and reading a book she'd borrowed for the holidays from the Hogwarts library. They began their rounds with Bianca and Mil playing each other. Unlike their first round, these pieces had now begun to trust Mil. But Bianca, easily being the better player, managed to take down Mil, though the game was long and complicated, and kept stopping and starting as Georgina offered comments of her own.

"That's awful!" Georgina exclaimed, as Mil's white knight on his rearing horse got smashed in half by Bianca's opposing rook. "Poor horse."

"It's just wizards chess," Mil replied absent mindedly. "Bishop to F4."

Georgina then went on to get a fright as one of the white pawns in the corner began to yell abuse at Mil.

"They talk?!" She squeaked.

Mil giggled. "Yes. They do. It get's rather annoying, actually. Sometimes they help, but these things like to abuse me."

"It's cause they don't like you," Bianca cut in. "And for good reason too. My..." but she fell silent, eyes watery.

The game continued. Georgina kept her nose buried in her book, and Bianca and Mil kept playing, not speaking to each other. In fact, the only sound was the chess pieces advising Bianca and abusing Mil's frequent mistakes.

After Bianca defeated Mil, she went on to play against Galen. Galen won that round. Bianca didn't say anything, merely rising to her feet, and going to sit on the bench opposite Georgina. Galen, however, was like polar opposites. Following her win, she danced gleefully about the compartment like a mad thing, causing the compartment to sway from side to side.

Related to this or not, Marshall chose that time to run in. "I heard screaming," he announced. "Who died?"

Georgina glared at her brother. "M. Don't," she said sternly. "It's not something you should be joking about."

"I'm kidding," Marshall responded quickly. "Don't worry. I was getting bored in my compartment. Atia and her friends have started talking about the Dark Lord." Bianca stiffened. "And I was getting sick of it. So I've come to join you." He only noticed the chess set on the ground when he almost tripped over it on his way to sit down next to Georgina.

"Ooh, Wizard's Chess!" he exclaimed gleefully. "Who's playing? I'll verse someone. I like chess."

"We were playing," Mil replied. "But Galen just won the tournament. Hence the annoying dancing."

"Well, come on then Galen," Marshall said. "The tournament's not over until you beat me. I'm a champ - or so they say."

Galen made a face in protest. "But you're a seventh year," she argued. "And I'm only first year. That's not fair."

Marshall raised his shoulders in a shrug. "I'm also muggleborn," he pointed out. "I think it's perfectly fair. Come on."

So they played. This game was far more violent and rough than the other games played. Possibly because of the boy playing. Georgina couldn't work out where Marshall had ever learned to play chess like that. They had never been big with chess even when Marshall and Georgina were mere muggle children. Then again, he had spent seven years in a dorm with purebloods, so it was almost guaranteed that he would have picked up some tricks over the years.

The intense game lasted just over an hour. Georgina had started timing shortly after the start, both players, fairly well matched in ability, drew the game on for as long as the could. It had to end somewhere, however. Marshall won.

Now it was Marshall's turn to burst into a dance, pointing his fingers at Galen mockingly.

"I won! I won!" he sang. "I beat you, I won!"

And with that, Marshall was gone, vanishing out the glass sliding door as suddenly as he had come in.

* * *

><p>Very soon afterwards, the Hogwarts Express was pulling up into platform 9 and 34. The girls packed away their belongings, gathered up their pets, and exited the train. Bianca was met immediately by her mother, a woman who was the spitting image of her daughter, with the same small stature and blonde bob.

"Bye Bianca!" Mil, Galen and Georgina called after her. "Have a good holiday!"

Bianca waved behind herself in goodbye.

Marshall, carrying Dom in a wicker basket, was back. "We're meeting mom and dad outside the station," he announced to Georgina. "They don't know how to get in."

"Give me a sec, M," she responded. "You can go ahead, I'll see you out there. I want to say goodbye to my friends."

"Okay. But be quick," Marshall replied bossily. "The Simpsons is on at five, and I don't want to miss it."

Georgina snickered as Marshall left.

"The Simpsons?" Mil echoed. "What in the name of Merlin's most bizarre left earlobe is that?"

"It's a muggle thing," Georgina said quickly.

"Well, you'd better go," Galen declared. "Don't want to keep Marshall waiting."

Georgina nodded. "See you next term."

"You bet," Mil agreed.

"Of course."

"Have a nice holiday," Galen and Mil chorused.

Georgina grinned. "You too."

As she left, Mil turned to Galen.

"Come, on," she announced. "My family is over there." Mil nodded to the crowd of four people, recognizing Henry standing in the front, Boris in his cage on one arm, Artemis Scamander on the other.

Galen looked backwards at the scarlet Hogwarts Express as she followed Mil over to the rest of the Fawcett family.

What a term.


End file.
